This morning Celtic were drawn against the winner of La Fiorita and Linfield in the second round of qualifying for the Champions League.

The prospect of Celtic travelling to what would surely be a an incredibly hostile Windsor Park to face Linfield is indeed mouthwatering, thought here are some who believe Celtic shouldn't have to bother with the qualifiers at all.

Xavi is one such person, the Barcelona legend has something of an obsession with Celtic after facing the Scottish side at Park Head in the group stages of the Champions League on a couple of occasions.

Moussa Dembele won goal of the year for his hat-trick effort (Image: Getty Images)

He believes the size of the club negates the need for them to go through qualifying alongside Europe's minnows.

"I don’t think that Celtic should be a club that has to qualify for the Champions League", he said.

"When you consider the size of the club, their history, their stadium – they should qualify automatically by winning their league.

"But the rules are the rules and the important thing is that they qualify for the group stages.

The 37-year-old experienced European nights at Parkhead during a host of clashes against Celtic while pulling the strings in midfield for Barca and he believes with Rodgers at the helm, a place in the Champions League knockout stage must be their ambition.

Moussa Dembele of Celtic reacts (Image: Getty)

Xavi, now with Qatari club Al Sadd, also claimed the Hoops must retain top talents like Moussa Dembele while recruiting a couple of signings who have tasted success at the peak of European football.

"With Rodgers as coach and players they now have, I think Celtic’s ambition should be more than qualifying for the group stage, it should be to make it to the last 16.

"The most important thing is that Celtic keep their big players – Dembele was one of the top forwards in Europe last season and any club must firstly make sure that they keep their best players.